there is no doubt that we have seen in situations like this they not only carry out the direct killing of palestinian militants and senior leaders. we have also seen that coupled with a ground invasion. there is growing concern. we're standing on one of gaza's main streets. it's quiet. it's dark. very few cars are out. it should be bustling this time of night. it gives you a sense of the anxiety and the tension that exists here. ordinary palestinians afraid to venture out. they know the violence that has led to the killings of palestinians could escalate because of things like palestinian rocket fire reaching te tel aviv. but several days into it and as we have seen in the past, these rockets continue, it raises questions as to whether or not the military is achieving the stated objective. there's no doubt a great deal of

anxiety mongs the people here. also in israel living under the direct threat of rocket fire. >> and there is the concern of how egypt will react. what is the word there on how they are reacting? >> well, we already heard from egypt's president and the foreign minister. they have condemned the emergency meeting in the arab league to explore popular options. egypt says it will open the border with gaza to completely allow all wounded and injured and anybody else who wants to get out. we are getting initial reports that the prime minister may be leading a high delegation visit tomorrow. that would be unprecedented given the security situation here. >> a ayman, thank you so much. appreciate it. from the middle east to back home. let's take a look at what is happening this hour. the president will land in new york city within the next 30 minutes, where he will tour the

damage done by superstorm sandy. he will be greeted by andrew cuomo and governor bloomberg. and there are two closed door meetings on the deadly attack on the u.s. consulate in benghazi. one is taking place with the house intelligence committee and the the other with the house foreign affairs committee. there are new developments on the david petraeus front. testimony from members of congress will be happening. the general is set to brief the house intelligence committee tomorrow and likely the senate intelligence committee as well. now the defense secretary leon panetta came out ordering an investigation of legal and ethical issues among military leaders. the president giving his first remarks yesterday on the scandal that prompted the president to resign. >> we're safer because of the work that dpaifd petraeus has done, and my main hope right now is that he and his family are able to move on. and that this ends up being a single side note on what has

otherwise been an extraordinary career. >> the president also took leading republicans to task for attacks on the ambassador susan rice and comments she made just days after the deaths of four americans in benghazi. twaks you heard live from senator john mccain and lindsay graham on this show yesterday. >> for them to go after the u.n. ambassador who had nothing to do with benghazi, and was simply making a presentation based on intelligence that she had received and to besmirch her reputation is outrageous. >> and in a moment that felt much more 2008 than 2012, senator john mccain took to the senate floor telling the president that he's responsible for benghazi. the senator doubling down on the "today show" this morning. >> i'm not taking anybody on.

we owe it to their families. we owe to its to other americans. for the president of the united states for two weeks to deny that that was the case is a coverup or incompetence. either one of the two. >> joining me now is capitol hill correspondent kelly o'donnell. what are you hearing about the exact focus of the meeting? some are beginning certain briefings yesterday. >> well, thomas, there's an effort here to try to separate out what has been a complicated and troubling society of facts with respect to what happened with general petraeus and leaving the cia. all of that. and the benghazi issues, which have been bubbling up here for weeks. and really all of this brought it to a head, which is getting attention and getting some answers. members of congress tell me they expect to hear and are beginning to hear the briefings. so you have the top people in intelligence who are here to talk privately. these are typically closed door meetings. then we think we will get some

readout for the senior member who is will be able to tell us the sense of what they were able to learn without divulging the classified part but give us a sense of where they are in the process. when i mention the frustration, various members of congress in both parties who have been sending in letters asking for specific information, i've been told repeatedly they're not getting the information they want. so these hearings are an important way to try to resolve some of that. even susan rice and what may be her political future if she were to be nominated from the secretary of state position. having that focus on her is also another way of shining a light on benghazi and trying to get more answers. so that's part of what we see is happening. it's complicated, but there seems to be movement in getting key people here to talk about what went on, what was known, and why some things happened that resulted in those deaths. thomas? >> real quickly. yesterday lindsay graham and

mccain teaming up to announce the desire for a select committee. >> a select committee would give broad jurisdiction where different committees would have the resources to sort of work together. you saw it in water gate. there are other doing work that said we don't need to establish another one. so it's not openly welcomed as an idea. but it's a way to try to shine a light on the issues. so that's yet to be seen. investigations are under way in different ways. we'll see if a select committee ever happens. >> i appreciate it. i want to say good morning to the political power panel. also political editor of the grio. msnbc analyst karen finney, also a columnist for the hill. and republican strategist. general petraeus is now expected to testify tomorrow before a closed session, and as we're talking about with john mccain asking for a select committee, we know the briefings going on today. and a lot of people want access

to petraeus now. is this more about setting a if you have example surrounding the scandal and petraeus. >> i think the members of both parties want to know what happened to the kongs lat. they want to know more about what happened. i think that is something important. i think there are separate issues. you can see john mccain and others are trying to make this more of a political case against the administration and against susan rice. members of both parties are concerned about what happened in terms of getting to the bottom. what happened in benghazi overall. >> karen, as we head before and displayed the back and forth between the president and senators mccain and graham about susan rice, is the nomination of susan rice to stay more likely to happen now? is the president saying, let's have the fight. let's do it. >> yesterday he had that sort of bring it on attitude and response. look, i just want to say a

couple of things, though. senator graham and senator mccain are acting just childishly despicable. they know susan rice had intel. she said this is the intel we had at the time. this is what we know. they of all people know that condi rice who hay that had no problem supporting after she mistakenly or erroneously spread information about weapons of mass destruction herself pointed out that when things are unfolding, that's what an investigation is. it's what you know right now may not be what you know in a couple of weeks. it shows there's not a genuine attempt to work with the president. >> senator mccain was on the "today show" this morning. matt lauer asked him specifically about the two race situations. take ha look. >> you said opponents of condoleezza rice were expressing sour grapes after an election loss. why is this different? >> because every intelligence agency in the world, including the british, believe that iraq

had weapons of mass destruction, that it was an entirely different situation. four americans died that didn't have to die. >> is there a blurring of the line here? especially when it comes to the president and senator mccain? a lot of people would like look at the condi rice situation and the tens of thousands of lives, a combination of military and civilian lives that have been lost based on faulty information. >> i think it's easy to make the assumption that there's more politics on the side. most people that know john mccain, and i consider him a friend, he would say he's a patriot. he wants to know the truth. this is about what he just said. it's about four people died in benghazi that didn't have to. i think senator mccain is doing his job along with senator graham to get to the bottom and the best the way they know how. and i fully support their actions and their words. >> but they're making this -- they're talking about watergate.

they're talking about iran contra. and these false equivalencies that just don't seem to match up. it just doesn't pass the smell test. >> what senator mccain and senator graham have been doing the last couple of weeks is working the senate structure and gate effort government structure to find out what truly happened. senators that have oversight over this issue. that's what they're supposed to do, and that's what they are doing. i'm sorry people are getting ruffled about this, but this is a serious matter. i don't doubt anybody is not upset that we have dead americans. but they are trying the best way they know how within the system they work with to find the truth. >> but it is a very serious matter. if senator mccain and senator graham were truly sincere, then i would expect them to be far more concerned about the fact that you had congressman darrell issa and congressman essentially have now revealed a covert cia

operation, which may have been part of the reason the administration was trying to not talk about the covert situation going on. and they've outed names of and endangered the lives of libyans working with us. if this is about let's get to the bottom of what really happened and what's going on then let's look at the conduct that the irresponsible members of congress do what they want to do. they came back to hold a hearing for a political reasoning. they couldn't come back to do something for the american people. >> i don't think anybody can doubt senator john mccain's love of country. last i checked he served as a prisoner of war for the country. nobody doubts his love of country. he wants to get to the truth. he's working in the framework of the senate to do that. >> let's put this name back out there. mitt romney. from one republican who was defeated by the president john mccain to this the most recent in his wake, it is mr. romney.

he's now offering an explanation for his defeat on a conference call with top donors, portions of which were were put online. the president's campaign focused on certain members of the base coalition, give them extraordinary financial gifts for the government, and then work very aggressively to turn them out to vote. >> so the campaign is offering this statement. governor romney was simply elaborating on what obama senior strategist axelrod said about the effort to target key demographics, namely women. is this an example of why exactly romney lost? >> yes. it's basically what he said out loud in public. he confirmed that it was what he did think. it sounds like he really does think that. financial gifts to people is not really what happened. lots of republicans are really

critical of this as well. they don't think it's helpful. mitt romney is going to be an irrelevant figure in the republican party any way. that is very unwise remark. >> this is bobby jindal, louisiana governor. guys, we don't have the sound bite? >> actually reject the notion, that description. i think that's absolutely wrong. i don't think that represents where we are as a party. >> absolutely wrong. testifies a surrogate for mitt romney. is romney now kryptonite for the republican party? >> i think he has been for a long time. romney is not the only one in the party talking like this. we heard a lot of this kind of sentiment earlier on in the campaign. not just with his 47% comment. but what have we heard from a lot of conservatives. this was just the people who voted for obama wanted free

stuff. women like me who are single who voted for president obama, i want free birth control. and as a black person, i want other free stuff. the problem they have is deeper than this. it's not just mitt romney. there are others who believe when you talk about programs like the dream act, that that's amnesty. that's a gift to latinos. that's the fight we're going to see playing out over the next months and maybe years within the republican party. >> chip, real quickly because former governor haley barbour was in vegas for the republican association and yesterday said the gop needed, quote, a proctology exam, moving forward to explore the white house election loss. so it's quite the image for everybody. so which republican needs to bend over first? >> oh, wow! >> well, that's a very loaded question, thomas. and to somebody recently in my mid 40s and had one of the exams, i don't want to go first, that's all i have to say. >> i'll lel you jump in, karen. since the right likes to

federalize uteruses, would you line to say who needs to bend over first on the right? >> can we start with donald trump and then work our way back from there, please? >> i will let you have the last word right there. our thursday power panel. my thanks to all three of you. >> thanks. if the message is somehow we're going to ignore jobs and growth simply to address climate change, i don't think anybody will go for that. >> climate change on the back burner. it's one of bernie sanders' top priorities for the new congress. and the senator from vermont joins me next. we want to know what you think. should president obama still meet with them? tweet me or find me on facebook. [ woman ] ring. ring. progresso.

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welcome back, everybody. tomorrow president obama meets

with congressional leaders at the white house to try to hammer out a deal to avoid the fiscal cliff. today he's on the move to new york city and moving the needle among progressives. the commander in chief came off more commanding than ever, especially on the issues of taxes and entitlement cuts and earned raves in the process. >> what i'm not going to do is to extend further a tax cut for folk who is don't need it, which would cost close to a trillion dollars. >> i saw a president with a heightened level of testosterone and maybe a precursor of what he's going to look like the in the next four years. a sort of definite, different kick to his step. a lot of that was missing in the first term, and i found that very interesting, his first public volley eight days later. >> he spoke quickly in that press conference. did you notice? it was the fastest i've ever heard him speak. >> so will the president's base

be appeased by this throw down demeanor? or could he be be stonewalled into more compromise on the budget? live from the russell rotunda in washington, d.c., the independent bernie sanders of vermont. is this newly reelected president the same commander in chief that you saw in the past four years? we're hearing people like that comment. more testosterone. >> thomas, time will tell. but it is clear to me that the president must keep the promise that he made too to the american people. and that is not to do deficit deductions on the backs of the elderly and disabled veterans programs, and we are going to ask the wealthiest people in the country to start paying their fair share of taxes. that's what he told the american people. he won on that. many of us said the same thing. democrats won 25 out of 3 # senate races, and he has got to

stick to that position. we will be right behind him on that. >> sir, you've been vocal and an advocate for the progressive agenda. what do you think the president can get done as a liberal? we talked about reducing the deficit, avoiding the fiscal cliff. where will the middle be met? >> on this issue, i think the american people spoke during the election, and poll after poll shows the same thing. all across the board. regardless of political ideology, the american people are saying do not cut social security. harry reid was right when he said social security has nothing to do with deficit reduction, take it off the table. you do it in a way that's fair. and what that is, the wealthy got to pay their fair share. these are ob surd tax havens in the cayman islands. you take a hard look at military spending. >> the president as we have been

pointing out, the schedule will put him in manhattan to view storm damage from sandy. mayor bloomberg praised the president's stance about his reaction to sandy, about climate change and said d.c. needs to make the climate change issues a priority. do you agree that the president and the administration is willing to do enough? >> thomas, let me tell you this. there was a report that came out, front page "washington post" last week. scientists who study the issue now believe that the worst case scenario projection may be unfortunately, tragically the right one. they are talking about the possibility of this planet warming by eight degrees by the end of this century. what that means is you're going to see more hurricane sandies, more frequently, and more severe.

this is a huge, huge planetary crisis. it should be the top priority of everybody in the united states congress. we have to transform the energy system away from fossil fuel. cut greenhouse gas emissions, move to energy fishtdsy, move to sustainable energy, and when you do that, by the way, not only could we help lead the world in transforming our energy system, you can create millions of jobs. >> sir, great to see you this morning. thanks for your time. >> thank you. >> change without change. what does it mean for bipartisanship compromise? he asks the show. plus bp to pay up for the gulf coast oil spill. we'll bring you details ahead in the news now. ♪ i'd like to thank eating right, whole grain, multigrain cheerios! mom, are those my jeans?

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the u.n. security council held a meeting on the deadly violence on the gaza strip. medical condition is keeping a movie theater massacre suspect from attending a hearing scheduled for today. crews rushed james holmes to the homt this week but they wouldn't say what happened. b.p. reached a settlemented deal for the 2010 oil spill in gulf of mexico. two employees will also face manslaughter charges. sleep every night. [ male announcer ] why not talk to someone who's sleeping on the most highly recommended bed in america? ask me about my tempur-pedic. ask me how fast i fall asleep. ask me about staying asleep. [ male announcer ] tempur-pedic owners are more satisfied than owners of any traditional mattress brand. for 6 days only, get 0% apr financing with up to five years to pay. to learn more, visit tempurpedic.com. don't wait. five-year special financing ends november 20th. tempur-pedic. the most highly recommended bed in america.

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♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] don't just reject convention. drown it out. introducing the all-new 2013 lexus ls f sport. an entirely new pursuit. welcome back, everybody. new developments in the fbi investigation that ended with the resignation of cia director david petraeus. first, new information about the fbi agent who has now been identified. nbc has confirmed he is frederick humphries who worked on the bomb squad case. after kelley received e-mails

from four or five alias counties. the e-mails have been traced back to petraeus biography paula broadwell, who remains at her brother's home in washington, d.c. he still has not commented on the case. there are new details to talk about. joining me is michael isikoff. what more have we learned about why kelley was concerned enough that the e-mails be forwarded to the fbi? >> we have learned a little bit more about the e-mails. remember, the first one actually goes to general allen in afghanistan from an e-mail account identified as kell kellkelly pat trt kelly patrol talking about his upcoming meeting with jill kelley in tampa. and what was most concerning about the e-mails, we're told from kelley's perspective is they seem to know the comings and goings of general allen,

other generals at the u.s. central command and the special operations command, and in one case apparently cia director petraeus as well. there was an e-mail that went to her husband scott referring to a meeting. a social occasion with another four-star general that seems to be a reference to director petraeus. and at that point the cumulative total of the e-mails suggested somebody out there, and again, it hadn't been identified as paula broadwell at that point knew about the travel schedule, social calendar of some very high level people in the u.s. military and the cia director himself. and that's what triggered delivering the e-mail, bringing the e-mails to the fbi and triggered concern by the fbi as well to open up the investigation. >> layer by layer, we continue to learn more. thank you, i appreciate it.

>> thank you. just a short time ago president obama arrived in new york. he is expected to meet with family officials and first responders, all still trying to recover from hurricane sandy. the storm left millions without powers. some of the hardest hit areas on new york's long island. the congressman joins me now. congressman, it's good to have you with me this morning. let's ask about your area, neighbors there. how are they doing recovering from sandy and in your estimation has the federal government done enough to help in the last few weeks? >> well, this recovery will be long, it will be slow and difficult. it has been the way since the storm struck the last two weeks ago. we have small businesses trying to recover that lost business, our economy took a hit. and so we have to make sure that long island is getting all the resources it needs to get back

up on its feet, to keep the power on, to build the instruct, to get people in their homes to take care of the devastation that was inflicted on long island as a result of the storm. that's important not just for the people that i represent but for the continue. and long island and new york are a an important part of our economy. we want to make sure this is expedited and not just as a local priority. >> that's a long way to go. i want to take your attention back to capitol hill and the developments that we have seen there early this week since congress is back in session. nancy pelosi saying she would stay in her job as democratic leader as long as you stated in yours as the head of the democratic congressional campaign committee. now yesterday she was asked about the democratic leadership. but and i want to play some of what the exchange was and get your reaction to that. take a listen. >> some of your colleagues privately say that your decision to stay on prohibits the party from having a younger leadership and hurts the party in the long

term. >> i think that what you will see, and let's for a moment honor it as a legislate question. although it's quite offensive, but you don't realize it, i guess. the fact is that everything that i have done in my almost decade now of leadership is to let younger and newer people to the congress. >> sir, in your estimation, did he have a point in pointing out all the players are staying the same, and is there a potential for new leadership blood to move things along in what many people would consider the gridlock that exists in washington, d.c. >> well, i love luke, but i think his question wasn't legislate. legitimate. leader pelosi in the democratic caucus just elected 49 new members. 29% of the caucus has been reinvigorated with new energy.

we elected problem solvers. and small business entrepreneurs who created jobs. that's what the country just elected. people who want solutions. people who don't want fiscal cliffs, they want fiscal recovery. so we shouldn't be judged by what age you have to be in the leadership. it should be judged by what you've done for the country an the caucus. we have an incredible, extraordinary class of new democrats who have a new fresh energy and are willing to compromise with republicans to move the country forward. >> they were sent there by their constituents. is it not enough that they are eligible to be leaders in their own life? you have to wait your turn. >> look, everybody elected to congress on boeth sides of the aisle are elected by their own right. we are very proud we just elected a class of 49 new

democrats, all of whom are eligible for leadership at a certain point. if this caucus didn't believe in the leadership it has, it would have chosen other leaders. she would stay as leaders and say i'll stay if you stay, that is automatic renewal of a contract as i have ever seen. but when that happened, our caucus erupted in cheers that she made the decision to stay. >> congressman steve israel of long island, new york. thank you for taking time for us. so lawmakers meet for obama with talks on avoiding the fiscal cliff, they also face a bigger political challenge, that is disposing of the sour grapes that pickled them into near pa r paralysis. the big obstacle for that is a 60-word edict known as the pledge. and anti-tax document written by conservative activist grover

norquist and signed by every republican member. the catch is the big sto stonewalling effort was on a contingent plan that mitt romney would need to this leave the white house. since that didn't happen, is it all over for grover and his power play? joining me live for new orleans hon this, melissa harris-perry, host of the melissa harris-perry show here on msnbc. earlier this week we saw grover norquist sharing his thoughts on america's recent political process. i want to remind everybody what he had to say. take a look. >> well, we just had an election. and the house of representatives was elected, committed to keeping taxes low. the president was elected on the basis that he was not romney and romney was a poopy-head and you should vote against romney. >> i'm not sure that was the overall theme of what romney is labeled now, but what are your thoughts on that and grover norquist's future going forward. >> what we have seen is basically in the election, the american people did something pretty extraordinary and surprising to a lot of

progressives watching who have had a lot of anxiety post citizens united about the amount of money in the campaign. and we saw american voters being unwilling to either be bought or to be suppressed at the polls. what that means is somebody like grover norquist who is not an elected member of any legislative body, but who has managed to terrify an entire party, you know, all of the republicans into signing this pledge, and they sign it not necessarily because they're in line with grover norquist but rather because if they didn't he would send out primary challengers. he would spend tons of money on opponents against them. so now what republicans are surprisingly able to do is they have a little bit of freedom from norquist, in part because of the big win brought out by democratic vet iic voters who know what, you can't simply buy elections. >> over the sum fer even president george h. bush asked

who the hell is grover norquist anyway? why or how does this man hold so much political clout in the country? it was particularly because he was able to take the party. he was able to tell the republicans, look, i am going to be, you know, the way that you either get re-elected or don't get elected at all, but now the power is slipping. you and i both know this. people who run for office particularly for the u.s. congress, they think of themselves as smart and capable leaders. my bet is those generally in line id logically with norquist don't want to be controlled by some puppet master, and this election gives them the freedom to say, we'll have to make reasonable concessions here in order to keep the counted tr going off the fiscal cliff. >> melissa harris-perry, always great to talk with you. if you want to hear more thoughts for the good professor,

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nothing artificial. ♪ it's all that sweet ever needs to be. new nectresse. sweetness naturally. two top political reporters are teaming up to answer one of the biggest questions in washington. will hillary clinton run for president? the new book is titled hrc state secrets and the rebirth of hillary clinton. it promising a behind the scenes look and discusses her run-up to the 2016 election. joining me now jonathan allen and amy parnes, a white house correspondent. it's great to have you both here. jonathan, i want to start with you. secretary clinton is going to testify before congress on the benghazi attack. no official date yet. but you refer to this in the book, you called benghazi clinton's greatest political

challenge at the state department. how do you think this will impact a potential run in 2016? >> sure. if she runs in 2016 this will be the time period where for years she will have had the most controversial episode. i think we'll have to wait to see the testimony. you mentioned chairwoman iliana, the head of the foreign affairs committee in the house just announcing that hillary clinton will testify before her committee and the senate foreign relations committee. likely i would think in the new year because they're going to wait for this accountability review board that's going through just what happened to come out tw the report before the secretary comes to the committee. >> secretary clinton is leaving the state department to pick a replacement. certainly there's a lot of talk about who that may be. here's what hillary clinton said when making the announcement back in january. >> after 20 years of being on the high wire of american politics and all of the

challenges that some with that, it would be probably a good idea to just find out how tired i am. everyone always says that when they leave the jobs. >> so people are scratching their heads thinking gosh we have to think about 2016 already. but is she positioned and well positioned for a run? >> she is well positioned. but i think she needs to take some time off. she jokes she wants to watch home decorating channels and kick back. she's also writing a book. so i think we'll see. it remains to be seen. >> so one person who could be al rival is vice president biden for the nomination. and the vice president rekindled the theory on election day. take a look. >> last time you're going to vote for yourself? >> no, i don't think so. >> so there's a lot of time to work that out. but jonathan, is the vice president potentially the biggest obstacle in the likely choice as well? >> sure. i think the vice president has been trying to position himself in a run for president.

i think the two of them ran against each other there would be significant differences. we've seen a lot of the stories out of the situation room on defense policy. often times hillary clinton is the more hawkish person with the bin laden raid, with the afghanistan search. that said, bill clinton and joe biden are close to each other. hillary clinton has served barack obama well. there would probably be some sort of conversation to try to avert that kind of head-to-head. joe biden has run for president a couple of times before. and he has not done particularly well in the iowa caucuses. >> obviously hillary clinton would have one president in her corner, no matter what, bill clinton. but she has served president obama very well as has joe biden. wouldn't that president the president in a very tight spot? >> it would. >> well, like jonathan said i

think some conversations will have to be had behind the scenes before they decide who will go forward. but i think the president will maybe say something -- you know, he'll try to stay out of it, but i think he'll make his choice known behind the scenes. >> so who on the right would be the biggest opponent? would it be a christie or rubio? >> those are certainly two candidates that could come forward in 10 t 2016. marco rubio saying his trip has nothing to do with 2016. nobody other than marco rubio believing that. you have to think about bobby jindal, the governor of louisiana, susanna martinez has gained a lot of interest among republicans lately. particularly after they were hammered with the latino vote in the last election. so there are a lot of republicans who could end up running. there will be some effort in the republican party to try to coalesce around somebody. i think they didn't find that this year's process was particularly helpful with all the candidates on the stage and

a primary process that really drove mitt romney to the right. >> so amy, last but not least, when is the book out? when is it published? >> that remains to be seen. we definitely won't be having a social life for the next few months. >> so we won't be looking for you around the washington, d.c. holiday circuit. >> no, no. i'll be absent. so will john. >> thanks so much. i appreciate your time.

welcome back, everybody. we led the top of the show with the deadly rocket fire taking place between israel and gaza, sirens going off in tel aviv. martin fletcher joins me on the phone. what do we know why the sirens are going off? >> we're not clear, to be honest. with the sirens some drama all over tel aviv and some -- there have been reports of rockets falling in the tel aviv area and in south tel aviv but we haven't confirmation of that yet. sirens in tel aviv put a lot of

people into panic. i can tell you, in our small building here, people running up and down the stares into the bomb shelters. the fact is anytime people have been killed in these situations, it's because they didn't do what they were told, didn't go to the bomb shelter. today, three israeli citizens were killed in a town. the reason they were killed they went to the sirens ounded, they went to the balcony instead of the safe area and they were killed in that way. when there's a siren, you need to run for it. >> tell everybody the last time -- how often or last time do you recall from your reporting, through your life there, the sirens going off? >> reporter: 1991. when the iraq sending scuds into tel aviv. i believe -- i believe that was the last time. so it's significant. israel has been trying to take

out the long-range rocket capability of hamas attacking rocket piles but it's a major threat. >> has there been an anticipation for this type of escalation, given what's taken place with deadly rocket fire and benjamin netanyahu being very stern? >> reporter: this is the red line. there's a sense in israel israelis don't care about the small towns attacked from hamas but if it hit tel aviv, the story would change. that's exactly what hamas wants to do. they said yesterday they would attack tel aviv. israel's been trying to destroy their ability do so. but israel said they had destroyed most of the long-range hamas rockets in last 24 hours but they have been falling. another rocket did fall ten kilometers six or seven miles south of tel aviv, that fell an

hour and a half ago, actually while we were driving by, we didn't see it. the capability has not been destroyed apparently. and that suggests that israel will continue with its attack. it will get stronger. and the ground invasion of gaza is possible. the prime minister netanyahu said, israel will do whatever it takes to stop the rockets. >> remind viewers the geography, the tight geography of the area between gaza and israel and we talk about long-range missiles but they don't need to be that long of a range. >> reporter: no, they've got to be 45 miles. 70 kilometers. the distance from one end of manhattan to midway through long island, that's the distance we're talking about. >> martin fletcher, reporting from tel aviv. thank you so much. appreciate it. >> thanks, thomas. i'll see you back here tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. on the show friday peter welch

and historian michael bleech lo. "now with alex wagner" comes your way for the next hour. >> no wall of obfuscation here. mitt romney takes 47% views to a whole new level. mark mackinnon, sam stein, eric bates. foreign policy and finger pointing take center stage as republicans zero in on president obama's cabinet. the back and forth over benghazi and embassy rice with former governor bill richardson. the president tours storm damage in new york, addressing climate stage. we'll talk with deputy mayor wolfson when "now" starts in a mere 180 seconds. [ birds chirping ] are you sure you can fit in there? [ chuckles ] ♪

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